Spark-plug cleaner



June 12, 1923.

F. H, ELWELL SPARK PLUG CLEANER Filed Aug. 21

zy .2@ la 117 Patented .lune l2, 1923.

srnrus FRANKLIN H. ELWELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPARK-:PLUG CLEANER.

Application filed August 21, 1920. Serial No. 405,184. i

i T all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN H. ELwnLL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented Certain new and useful Improvements in Spark,- Plug Cleaners, of which the following is a full, clear,and eXact specification. c

IIhis invention relates to improvements in spark plug cleaners, the cleansing devices for which have heretofore been limited to the use of wire brushes and to the removal of vcarbon and other foreign matter deposited upon the ground terminal and central electrode.

The prime object of my invention broadly stated, is a spark plug cleaner primarily adapted for removing carbon and other foreign matter deposited on the surface of the insulator for the central electrode and, incidentally, for cleaning, the central electrode from such deposits.

More specifically stated, the object of my invention is a spark plug cleaner, the cleansing devices of which are rigid and which, on being bodily rotated about theaxis of the insulator, are adapted to remove the carbon and other foreign substances deposited on the surface and also at the base of the insulator by a direct scraping and cutting action.

A further object of my invention is a spark plug cleaning implement, the'several parts of which are rigidly connected in one piece surrounding the base of the insulator, and at its other end with blades provided at one end with teeth adapted to cut and scrape carbon deposits surrounding the base of the insulator, and at its other end with blades for cutting deposits of carbon and other for eign substances from and cleaning the surface of the insulator, by a scraping action.

A further object of my invention is a spark plug cleaner, provided with a tubular shell having a longitudinal slot for enabling the shell .to be projected against the base4 of the insulator and supporting a plurality of cutting blades substantially conforming to the contour of the insulator, which ysaid slot and the edge of one of said hladesare so arranged that the surface ofthe insulator, in

' its entirety, -may be exposed to their operation inthe absence ofthe necessary contact of any part of the cleaner, with either of the terminals, with sufficient force to bend or otherwise injurel them, and particularly the ground terminal.

With these ends in view, my invention iinds embodiment in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts by which the said objects lines indicating the position of the spark plug relative thereto.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the cleaner and spark plug, parts, of both of which are shown in longitudinal section.

lSimilar characters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings. n c

. The tubular shellA 6 ofthe Spark plug` cleaner in which may invention finds its embodiment is provided, towards one end, with a shoulder 9r which may be formed by cutting through a tube transversely for more thanhalfl of its diameter and thence longitudinally on diverging cutting edges 10-10 to provide a means by which these longitudinal cutting edges, for at least a portion of their length, and the serrations or teeth l1 aty the outer end thereof, may be rotated in both directions more than half way around the base of the insulator 7 for the cutting and removal of car-bon deposits surrounding the baseof the insulator and as would not otherwise be possible.

The yopposite end of the shell is provided with a slot 12 adapted to straddle and pass the ground terminal 13 of the spark plug vfor projecting the .end of the shell into the housing' 14, for and surrounding the insul lator 7, to contact with the curved base of the insulator.` n f l In practice, the diameter of .that portion of the shell projected into the housing should so closely fit that the shell meets with frictional resistance for its insertion and removal therefrom, and, in any event, closely enough to the housing to prevent a rocking movement of the shell in the housing tending to permit the cutting scraping blades presently referred to, from exerting a leverage tending to fracture the insulator or bend the central electrode.

rlhe longitudinal slot 12 opens into a slot 15 extending transversely about or a little more than half of the diameter for the purposes of oscillating the shell about the axis of the central electrode, the slot 15 being sufliciently wide to prevent the ground electrode 13 from contacting with the opposing walls of the slot at any time, and particularly duringthe oscillation of the shell.

Permanently fixed or removably secured to the inner wall of the shell and projecting radially therefrom, are a number of scraping blades 16, which extend from the end of the shell to the edge of the slot 15, which blades, as shown in the drawing, are four in number, the cutting edges of the upper ends of three of which project closely enough to the periphery of the central electrode for removing carbon deposits thereon,

' while the upper cutting edge of the fourth blade, as seen at the right of Fig. a, is sufriciently narrow to escape contact with the ground electrode 13, when the cleaner is .in its operative position and being operated.

The cutting edges of the blade 16 conforms to the contour of the surface of the ends, side and base of the insulator 7. That is to say, the inner edges of these blades are curved inwardly towards each other to conform to the curved end of the insulator, as indicated at 17 diverge, as indicated at 18, and are rounded at 19 to conform to the contour of the surface of the side and base of the insulator.

It is now to be observed that the longitudinal slot 12 is located adjacent one of the longer blade-s 16 in order that the ground terminal may be free to pass by to a position ina plane beyond the ends of the several blades, and by this means prevent contact of the blades therewith throughout the oscillation of the several blades around the common axis of the insulator and the cen` tral electrode, and as would not be practical were the slot located at any point substantially different from that above described.

F or the removal of carbon deposited at the lbase of the insulator 7 and on the walls of the housing, the righthand end of the cleaner is inserted in the housing until the teeth 11 are in contact with the carbon at the bottom of the insulator and so that on oscillating the cleaner, lthe teeth 11 will cut away the carbon opposed thereto, while in the meantime thel knife edges 10 will operate to cut and scrape clean the carbon from the side walls of the housing.

With the removal of the deposits of carbon from the portion of the base of the insulator and fromthe walls of its housing, provision is made for inserting the lefthand end of the cleaner to an operating position on the blades 16, as shown in Fig. 5; that is to say, so that, following the oscillation of the blades about the axis of the insulator, the blades first operate upon the carbon deposits on the side surface of the insulator, and finally from the rounded'end portion and the curved portion at the base thereof.

Having described my invention', what I .claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

' 1. A spark plug cleaner'provided with an inwardly projecting blade, a support therefor, said blade having'a cutting edge shaped to conform to the outer surface of the spark plug insulator.

2. A spark plug cleaner, comprising a cylindrical shell' provided with a plurality of inwardly'projecting blades, the cutting edges of which conform to the contour of the outer cylindrical-like surface of a spark plug insulator, said blades converging inwardly valong radial lines towards an axis common to that of said insulator.

3. A spark plug cleaner, one end of which is provided with teeth formed therein, and inwardly converging edges respectively adapted for cleaning from the base of the insulator and the sides of the housing therefor deposits of carbon and other foreign materials deposited thereon.

4. A spark plug cleaner, comprising a shell, internally provided at one end with'a plurality of blades, the edges of which conform to the surface contour of and'extend along radial lines with reference to the axis of a spark plug insulator, the opposite end edge of said shell being provided with teeth and inwardly! converging or cutting edges adapted to remove carbon and other foreign materials deposited on the surface of the base of the insulator and on the opposing surface of the housing therefor.

5. A spark plug cleaner consisting of a tubular shell or body portion, provided internally at one end with blades conforming to the contour of the insulator therefonfand having a 'longitudinal slot adapted to straddle the, ground electrode for permitting the passage of said blades to the base of the insulator the outer surface of whichbody portion substantially conforms to the inner surface of the housing and is thereby adapt'- ed to remove the socket therein.

6. A spark plug cleaner, consisting of a cylindrical shell adapted to removably iit with substantially a frictional tightness the housing surrounding the insulator for the plug, internal blades projecting from the inner walls of the housing ltheedges of which conform to the contour of the insulator, said housing having a longitudinal and a transverse slot in open communication with each other respectively straddling the ground terminal and for oscillating the housing in its operative position on its own axis and phat of the insulator and the housing thereor.

7. A spark pluo cleaner, consisting of a tubular shell or body portion, the outer diameter of Which substantially conforms to the inner diameter of the housing ofthe insulator for the plug, a plurality of blades extending longitudinally thereof conforming to the contour of the insulator, said shell being provided With a longitudinal slot open at both ends extending the length of said blades, and having a transverse slot of substantially greater Width bisecting said longitudinal slot for rthe purposes described.

8. A spark plug cleaner, comprising a cylindrical shell, a number of internally projecting blades conforming to the Contour of the insulator for the spark plug, said shell having a longitudinal slot and a transverse slot bisecting each other, Which said transverse slot is substantially Wider than the` j other slot Wherebythe end of the shell may be projected past the ground terminal to a seated position at substantiallythe base of the insulator and may be oscillated about its axis With'y the side Walls of the transverse slot free from contact with the ground terminal. n v

9. A spark plug, lcomprising a cylindrical shellV or body portion conforming to and adapted to be projected into and removably litthehousing for the insulator of the plug, a series of blades projecting radially from the inner Walls of the housing conforming to the contour of ythe insulator, one' of which blades is narrower at its inner end than any FRANKLIN H. ELWELL.

Witnesses :L i

JNO. G, ELLIOTT, H. SLACK. 

